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Topic: i think i need to go to the ER but i have no health insurance (Read 360 times)

i made a thread about a week ago saying that i had a "head rush" where i suddenly got very lightheaded and felt like i was lifting out of my body. i just got that same feeling again while sitting in bed with my mom. my vision went weird and my eyes got very dry. i stood up and felt like i was falling forward. my head feels heavy and full of pressure and i keep getting hot flashes all over my body and this feeling like i'm going to throw up.

every time i get a hot flash, no one else in the room complains of feeling hot. so it's only me.

i feel like i'm losing it. i've been having these symptoms for a year now with no improvement and i've been trying to put off any ER trips but i don't think i can handle not knowing what these symptoms are anymore. even as i type this my whole body feels weak and hot and my head feels like it's spinning. my arms are shaking and my voice is weak when i try to talk, like i don't have enough energy to even get the words out.

this isn't anxiety. i shouldn't be feeling this sick for no reason. my mom is furious with me for feeling this bad but i can't stop the symptoms, i've tried everything and they just get worse. i've never been this depressed in my life because of the certainty that i'm dying. i have no motivation to go anywhere or get out of bed. i'm too young to die, i'm only 21, but these symptoms are getting to be too much for me to pass off as just anxiety anymore. i sleep all the time and constantly feel dizzy and ill and feverish. i get headaches almost every day. all the symptoms just keep piling up and telling me i have something seriously wrong with me but no one around me takes me seriously. i feel like this will be the one time i'm right about something and it'll be too late to do anything about it and it'll be terminal and i'll die before i even get to see my 22nd year.

if this turns out to be a tumor or some sort of cancer then my life is over. i'm honestly lost as to what to do now. i just want to go to the ER and get a scan once and for all but we have no health insurance. i feel completely hopeless can someone please help

i think for now...i'm gonna try and wait it out for the night, just to see if i can handle it, and if i'm still feeling bad tomorrow, i'll take a trip to the urgent care clinic and get checked out. i'm trying so hard not to just run off to the doctor's every time i feel sick, that's how i got this bad with my anxiety in the first place, but sometimes it's SO hard to tell what's anxiety and what's physical.

i'm feeling a little better now that i've eaten something, so i think i'll be able to hold off a trip for the night. i'll keep this thread updated in the meantime...thank you for replying, i really appreciate it.

Corwin, I'm concerned that you're downplaying the seriousness of anxiety, or just how STRONG its symptoms can be. There doesn't have to be an, "it's either physical or anxiety." Anxiety produces REAL physical symptoms; sometimes very unpleasant ones.

I know it's easy to think that a diagnosis of anxiety is akin to being "passed off," but I promise you, as someone who has dealt with this in the past, it's not. Severe anxiety can be a very serious condition and one that needs proper treatment. The first time I ever went to the ER it was because I had that exact same "head rush" feeling and I thought I was seriously dying. They didn't do much other than an EKG and some blood tests.

I'm sorry that you're mom's so mad at you for what's going on. Trust me—this is NOT your fault. But as you're struggling, I want you to remember that anxiety is a REAL condition that produces REAL symptoms. I don't know if that's what's going on with you, but it sure sounds like it.

I would advise you to NOT go to the ER as it will be a big waste of time, money, and you won't get any answers. The ER is only there to treat emergencies and you are not having an emergency. One look at you and to hear your story of how this has been ongoing for a year and they will send you on your way and will refer you to a clinic for Outpatient care. THE ER and HOSPITALS do NOT provide outpt care to non-emergent visits! I think a more likely situation is you are young, 21... could be a little anemic from heavy periods and another likely theory very common amongst young girls is having a strong vasovagal response... like you can feel faint and then a little flushed, hot, tingly, out of it when the blood pools in the legs during such instances as getting up too fast from sitting down, or even having a bowel movement. It is really common. I actually had a strong vasovagal reaction when i was getting a tattoo and actually passed out on the floor when i was a teen. If you are sitting for long periods being still and tense and then you go to stand up, then yeah, you are gonna see floaters or feel faint. I think you should find an outpatient clinic that you can go to, or to a CVS 24 hours pharmacy clinic. Have them draw basic labwork such as CBC, CMP, and thyroid.

One more thing another big factor to consider could be diet. I just noticed you typed that you felt better now that you ate. The head rush feeling could be from sugar getting too low. If you don't eat enough carbs, you can also have that feeling as well as an anxious feeling, shaky feeling, the feeling of impending doom. You probably need a change in diet. Such as, eat 6 small meals a day. But for each of those meals, have no more than 7 grams of sugar... so altogether that would be 40 grams sugar per day. Make sure you get adequate calories... probably between 1450-1750 calories per day. Your problem may be that you are just not having enough sugar (healthy sugars that is). Carbs are different than sugars. For example, let's say you ate a serving of plain pasta. That would be say only 200 calories, 46 carbs, O grams sugar. So you just had carbs, but you did not have sugar, so you could feel full but at the same time you could feel no energy... we as humans need natural sugars such as what is in fruit. What we don't need is refined flours and refined sugars. But fruit is great!. YOu should keep a food journal and see if that helps.

Corwin, I'm concerned that you're downplaying the seriousness of anxiety, or just how STRONG its symptoms can be. There doesn't have to be an, "it's either physical or anxiety." Anxiety produces REAL physical symptoms; sometimes very unpleasant ones.

I know it's easy to think that a diagnosis of anxiety is akin to being "passed off," but I promise you, as someone who has dealt with this in the past, it's not. Severe anxiety can be a very serious condition and one that needs proper treatment. The first time I ever went to the ER it was because I had that exact same "head rush" feeling and I thought I was seriously dying. They didn't do much other than an EKG and some blood tests.

I'm sorry that you're mom's so mad at you for what's going on. Trust me—this is NOT your fault. But as you're struggling, I want you to remember that anxiety is a REAL condition that produces REAL symptoms. I don't know if that's what's going on with you, but it sure sounds like it.

Have you talked to your doctor about anxiety treatment options?

you're right, i probably shouldn't pass off my symptoms as being "just" anxiety when anxiety alone can seriously make you feel like you're dying. it's just so hard to believe that it CAN cause such severe symptoms...then again, i guess that's why hypochondria is so serious in the first place, since the symptoms we're all feeling are very real. it's even more annoying that deep down i KNOW i should be healthy, i've had every test possible within the past two years, and they've all come back clean. but then there's that pervasive thought of the tests "missing" something which i'm sure many of the people on these forums have felt as well.

i had a doctor before moving out of state, and he was very aware of my anxiety and was a big help, but i currently don't have a doctor OR health insurance due to my mom leaving her last job because of the move (her work place closed down so the move was a necessary one). hopefully we'll be able to get insurance soon but not having it certainly adds to my anxiety quite a lot. but as for treatment, right now i'm on 0.5mg of klonopin once daily which admittedly doesn't do much (it used to but i've been on it for a few months so i guess it's worn off). but i also don't want to raise my dosage since i want to get off of the medication soon (within a couple months, i'm just afraid of tapering too quickly). i'm really wanting to find a therapist soon since my anxiety causes a great deal of depression and it always helps to talk to someone about it, but my mom gets impatient and frustrated with me since it's hard to get through to me once i'm in panic-mode.

One more thing another big factor to consider could be diet. I just noticed you typed that you felt better now that you ate. The head rush feeling could be from sugar getting too low. If you don't eat enough carbs, you can also have that feeling as well as an anxious feeling, shaky feeling, the feeling of impending doom. You probably need a change in diet. Such as, eat 6 small meals a day. But for each of those meals, have no more than 7 grams of sugar... so altogether that would be 40 grams sugar per day. Make sure you get adequate calories... probably between 1450-1750 calories per day. Your problem may be that you are just not having enough sugar (healthy sugars that is). Carbs are different than sugars. For example, let's say you ate a serving of plain pasta. That would be say only 200 calories, 46 carbs, O grams sugar. So you just had carbs, but you did not have sugar, so you could feel full but at the same time you could feel no energy... we as humans need natural sugars such as what is in fruit. What we don't need is refined flours and refined sugars. But fruit is great!. YOu should keep a food journal and see if that helps.

i've never thought to keep a food journal, that sounds like a good idea! i do have chronic sinus issues which i hear can be made worse by certain foods so maybe that's what's making me feel extra ill lately. and i'm POSITIVE i consume more than 40 grams of sugar a day which certainly isn't good so i'll try to cut back on that and see how that goes for me.

as for your other reply i think if i do end up needing to go see a doc, i'll go to an outpatient clinic rather than the ER...the only blood test i've never had before is a thyroid test and i've been suspecting i might have a thyroid issue due to the hot flashes and weird hormonal flushes i get (which weirdly enough doesn't make me anxious, i'd actually be relieved if i came back with a thyroid issue since at least then i'd have some answers as to why i always feel so out of it and be able to get treatment for it...)

I have similar issues with chronic sinus problems. Anxiety can cause almost any sensation or feeling. It's terrible. Sure people have real diseases, but anxiety manifests all of them and life becomes unpleasant.